Constant fear of the unknown, chronic anxiety, ongoing fatigue resulting from pushing the body and mind for more work, or to keep it engaged and distracted, can result in dis-ease when left unaddressed. Stress has been scientifically identified as one – if not THE – major leading cause of severe health problems. What happens in our bodies when we are stressed out? The body needs to decide whether to “fight” or to run away from the situation. For either scenario in its attempt to manage things 2 chemicals are released:
You can see the side-effects associated with either situation as illustrated in the graph above. Yes – stress is a natural daily occurrence – stuff happens! We run late, things break, people are in a funky mood and misunderstand you, etc. And our bodies are made to handle and recover from such events. But when we have high predictable levels of stress day-in-and-out and we don’t do or are unable to do anything to correct the situation, our bodies bear the brunt but eventually give up. Here are some ailments modern medicine recognizes have their origin in chronic stress.
With time, the body is less and less able to cope and process the stress. It runs out of steam. It is unable to adapt to stressful situations. And it starts to break down. That’s the key term: adapt. Enter Ashwaghanda: biggest best adaptogenic herb cherished in Ayurveda and recognized in Western science and medicine. Ayurveda offers so many divine herbs and remedies to help cope with stress. In this newsletter we focus on Ashwaghanda because it offers that unique property: adaptogenicity!
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is a world-famous adaptogenic herb that helps us cope with stress, especially mental and physical stress. Ashwagandha is also a wonderful herb for improving stamina. In fact, ashwa is the Sanskrit word for ‘horse’; and gandha is the word for ‘smell’. Another meaning of gandha is ‘essential character’. It is the essential character of horses to be strong. They possess great endurance and can easily cope with ever increasing workloads. Ashwagandha strengthens the nervous system and gives us the ability to withstand the ever-increasing demands of life.
Rasayana and Balya
Ashwagandha possesses a wonderful rasayana property. The Charak Samhita defines rasayana: yad jarabhyadi nashanam tad rasayanam (that which slows aging and removes imbalances is rasayana.)
In addition, ashwagandha also has the balya prabhava (specific ultimate effect). This word denotes that it gives bala (strength). In Ayurveda, bala can signify many kinds of strength: mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, immunological, and reproductive/sexual. Ashwagandha mainly gives mental and physical strength, as well as sexual stamina.
Ashwagandha Contraindicated for High Pitta & Amavisha
Ashwagandha is contraindicated for the pitta physiology, especially if there is a lot of amavisha (reactive toxins) in the body. The reason is that it has both an ushna guna (warming physical effect) and ushna virya (heating potency). Ironically, high pitta people are often drawn to ashwagandha because they constantly put more and more stress on themselves.
Oral intake of Ashwagandha is not be the herb of choice for such driven people, when compared to herbs, foods and lifestyle choices that give more soma (cooling and nurturing to the body). Sometimes, making priority choices about what races you want to run is the best way to get rid of excess mental stress.
Ashwagandha Transdermal Cream for All Body Types
Transdermal delivery of herbs through topical application is a chief component of Vaidya Mishra’s advanced/alternate delivery system, because whatever goes ON your body goes IN your body! This cream delivers the balya prabhava (strengthening quality) of ashwagandha without the ushna guna (heating quality) and ushna virya (heating potency). Gunas are physical properties. Since this cream does not contain the physical herb, just its essence, you get the benefit of ashwagandha without the heating effect. The rasayana and balya prabhavas begin to be absorbed and act quickly when applied generally on the skin and on specific marma points (energy points). This is the perfect delivery system if this herb is needed for a pitta person.
Strengthen the mind by delivering the balya prabhava (strengthening quality) of ashwagandha to the brain transdermally (through the skin)
Receive the benefit of this herb without overwhelming the body with its ushna guna (heating quality)—important for the high-pitta physiology
Bypass the liver and digestive system (if these are weak, or toxic, they can corrupt the herb or prevent it from being fully utilized). Continuous absorption through the skin for several hours (such as when you sleep)
Fast acting, non-staining formula (the cream gives a more sustained slow-and-long delivery)
Gives just the prabhavas (special qualities) and sukshma bhag (subtle essence) of ashwagandha without its physical (heating) properties
Provides a very gentle delivery of this powerful herb
Suspended in the nectar of sweet squashes to balance the warming effect of ashwagandha
Should be added to 1 to 2 liters of cool water and sipped throughout the day, also minimizing the ushna (heating) quality of the herb
Does not have to go through the digestive, metabolic or liver system which could corrupt the herb’s intelligence
Ready to be absorbed and used by the brain and body to help improve stamina against stress
Or try the Massage Oil with Magnesium and Ashwagandha – a winning combination of an ancient herb and an essential stress-busting mineral that gets depleted with high levels of stress. This massage oil is ideal for helping unwind from chronic and acute stress situation.
Unchecked emotional stress can take just as great a toll if not more than mental stress. Unresolved unprocessed grief can lead to chronic inflammation which in turn can lower the body’s immunity.
Ayurveda has a precious herb called “ashoka” that provides great relief and supports the emotional heart.
Ashoka Transdermal Cream
Transdermal Support to Manage and Release Grief and Sadness
The Sanskrit word Ashoka means ‘no grief’. Shoka means ‘grief’. ‘A’ (short-form pronunciation) means ‘no’. According to the epic Ramayana, Sita (wife of Lord Ram) was captured by a demon and placed in a grove of Ashoka trees. These trees gave tremendous emotional support to Sita during her long separation from her beloved Ram. This story tells us that the Ashoka tree is a bliss-giving tree.
This transdermally applied cream captures the subtle prabhavas (specific actions) of Ashoka tree bark to help us deal with past or on-going emotional challenges of grief and sadness. By capturing the essence of Ashoka in this transdermal cream and delivering it through the skin, we are able to bypass the digestive and metabolic systems. In this way the pure vibrational energy of Ashoka is maintained and is able to reach the light of the soul where it can help to remove any grief and sadness that may be sitting there. This method of delivery gives an advantage over oral administration because if the liver carries a high toxic load, it may be too much for even the divine energy of Ashoka to remain intact. If the divine intelligence of this herb gets corrupted, it cannot remove grief.
We celebrated Vaidya Mishra’s birthday and the SVA lineage in great online pomp yesterday! It was wonderful to watch footage of him from different courses, speaking about Ayurveda, his SVA lineage, what is Prana, what is Samadhi.
If you missed the session, kindly email us so you can receive the link to view:
If you’ve already emailed us, you will receive a link to view online.
we are delighted to introduce
Dr Marianne Teitelbaum’s
new YOUTUBE channel
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for a wealth of SVA Knowledge & Expertise
click on any image below to visit her channel
an introduction to SV Ayurveda as taught by Vaidya RK Mishra with Dr Teitelbaum
Watch ALL of Dr Teitelbaum’s Videos on her youtube channel HERE
… upcoming courses …
EMF: What CAN we do about it?
In a world where we can no longer exist without technology, how can we maintain balance and thrive despite the known side-effects of exposure to EMF? Find out Vaidya Mishra’s SVA Teachings in this much requested course on EMF – details coming very soon….
We want to help you protect your purchase – there’s been an increase in lost/stolen packages.
To protect your shipment – in case your shipping address is not secure – we have now added the “signature delivery” option upon check-out on www.chandika.com and we highly recommend you select it to ensure your package is guaranteed to reach you after it leaves our warehouse. Kindly note we are unable to replace stolen/misplaced packages once they are confirmed delivered by the carrier of your choice.
